Oh, yeah. The Beard of Knowledge needs his own show for sure.
The Beard of Knowledge has appeared in at least one episode of the Travel Channel’s “Mysteries at the Museum”. Which is another fun show, although you need to take the narratives with a sizable grain of salt; they’re often hoked up and dumbed down for the show from what a bit of Googling will tell you about the real stories behind them.
I like the Rick from that video a lot more than the one from the show. On the show he is a lot more stressed and pissed off.
If you had to deal with a sullen resentful son and his moronic sidekick all the time, wouldn’t you be too?
I noticed that; what happened to Scott?
The National Postal Museum featured in at least one story, in which they stated that the building was the first post office in DC. It’s at least the third!
Doesn’t surprise me in the least. Whenever I’m interested enough in a story on that show (or “Monumental Mysteries”, or the latest, “Castle Secrets and Legends”) to do a bit of online research, I always, always find errors, elisions of important details, and/or simple solutions to seeming mysteries. It’s kind of like listening to an elderly uncle tell tales of the old days; they’re fun to hear but you don’t check your skepticism at the door.
The story is that he just had a kid and elected to move to Tennessee to raise it. The veracity of said story is undetermined.
I don’t get why people say it is ‘staged’. Of course it is in a way because it has to be shot and edited into a TV show but that applies to everything on TV. Gold and Silver pawn shop really was one of the busiest seedy pawn shops near downtown Las Vegas before it was ever on a TV show. I went there last year and my cab driver admitted that he had a horrible cocaine problem back in the 80’s so he knew Rick and the Old Man all too well. He said that he couldn’t stand them personally (consider your junky in a pawn shop source) but he also said they were really just like that in real life.
They can’t operate it as a real Pawn Shop anymore because it is too famous but the history is still there. As far as I know, the people and items that bring stuff in really do own it and are willing to negotiate on it just like in any other Pawn Shop. It is all done by appointment and the experts are prearranged but they are real too.
None of that equals staged in my book. It is just what is required to turn a business like that into a TV show. My family used to own a pawn shop as well in Louisiana. We got some bizarre stuff brought in too just like they do. It was everything from Civil War artifacts to machine guns to prehistoric giants shark’s teeth to specially braided heavy gold chains that drug dealers had made so that they could wear a significant percentage of their net worth. That was all in a day’s work and you never could tell what someone was going to bring in just like they say.
Maybe your definition of staged is different than mine but I do not think they stepped over the line into fake in any way.
This and Counting Cars are, for real, the only reality programs I have ever watched. And really, they’re not true staged/bullshit reality shows. It’s more like a magazine program with the workers as host.
Anyway,
It was a fake book rather than a holster, but he did say that and did whip it out. So to speak.
I disagree. The Count, though already a minor celebrity before he got this show, I think is a very genuine person. He seems to like people and he is just in LOVE with cars. He’s rather bigger than life, and sure I think he plays that up but eh, I like him.
I like this description. Snacks for the mind.
Someone mentione that they like learning about the things brought into the store. I can see that part of the show being interesting. It’s the biggest reason i enjoy Antiques Roadshow. I guess for me, I just don’t care for the way they’ve packaged it. But obviously, a lot of people do, or it wouldn’t be on the air.
I will say that the two spin off shows, American Restoration and Counting Cars are both enjoyable shows, despite the lame interpersonal “acting” by the main characters.
I love seeing how something old can be turned into something brand new, and i admire that skill. I wish I had the ability to turn a junker car into a prize, or a beat up old coke freezer into a cool, functional refrigerator… Or whatever they decide to make. I think that guy on the resorations show has some amazing talent and I would love to live near him. I’d spend a lot of money getting crap fixed up.
I agree – he seems like a sweetheart who wants to blow people away with his creations.
In was in Vegas a couple of years ago, went to their shop, outrageous prices and they seem to make their rent on selling t shirts and hats. No One in their right mind would pay the exhorbitant prices they have on the junk they sell. On the higher end Omegas, etc. you are better off on ebay
I know this is sort of a zombie, but I’ll chime in and say that, while I tend to avoid reality shows, I enjoy this one. I like seeing some of the interesting things that are brought in and hearing their history.
For some reason, I even enjoy the obviously scripted and badly acted subplots. Chumley’s (obviously put-on) idiocy tickles me for some reason. I root for him when the rest are down on him, and I like it when he occasionally comes out on top.
I’ve found this true of any pawn shop I’ve been in. It’s kind of their thing. I don’t think they’re much different from the others except they have a show and can make money off of merchandising as an added bonus.
[QUOTE=Shagnasty;17078125
They can’t operate it as a real Pawn Shop anymore because it is too famous but the history is still there. As far as I know, the people and items that bring stuff in really do own it and are willing to negotiate on it just like in any other Pawn Shop. It is all done by appointment and the experts are prearranged but they are real too.
[/QUOTE]
This is true. My parents went there while on vacation last year and said it’s just a room to stand in a long line and buy a tshirt. The cast is never there, and the store isn’t a real pawn shop anymore. They’re all at home sitting on their piles of cash now. I don’t blame them a bit, but it’s a bummer for the true fans.
The one I can’t watch is the one in Detroit. Hard Core Pawn. That show makes me embarrassed to be a human! Who in the world really acts behaves and speaks that way? Ignorance and arrogance. It’s worse than Jerry Springer! Same with that tow truck show. Repo something… True trash! I hope those shows aren’t aired in other countries too. Our reputation in the international community is bad enough already.
The people on the Repo show are actors. None of it actually is happening. But they really do hire horrible actors.